SMU Data and Models

Steel Mill Negotiations: Make Us an Offer…
Written by John Packard
January 22, 2015
According to the respondents to this week’s flat rolled steel market survey, the domestic steel mills are willing to negotiate prices on new orders for all flat rolled steel products.
As you can see by the graphic below, ever since the beginning of the 4th Quarter 2014 the domestic steel mills have been willing to discuss base price levels with their customers on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. One of the main reasons for the mill position is the short lead times they have on all products (see lead time article in this issue of SMU). The more limited the mill order books the more anxious they are to fill them.
Our survey results are showing the response percentage indicating the mills as willing to negotiate pricing has been increasing since the beginning of December and are almost at 100 percent levels on all products in both the early January and this week’s survey results.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in SMU Data and Models

SMU’s April at a glance
SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of our key steel market metrics for the previous month, with the latest data updated through April 30.

SMU Survey: Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices recover
SMU’s Buyers’ Sentiment Indices both improved this week, reversing the decline seen two weeks ago.

SMU Survey: Sheet and plate lead times flatten out
Sheet and plate lead times held steady this week, according to buyers responding to the latest SMU market survey. This week we saw little change from mid-April levels, with just one product (Galvalume) showing any significant movement.

SMU Survey: More mills willing to deal on sheet prices, less so on plate
Nearly two thirds of the steel buyers who responded to this week’s SMU survey say domestic mills are negotiable on spot prices. This increasing flexibility marks a significant shift from the firmer stance mills held in recent months.

SMU Survey: Sheet lead times ease further, plate hits one-year high
Steel buyers responding to this week’s SMU market survey report a continued softening in sheet lead times. Meanwhile, plate lead times have moderately extended and are at a one-year high.